2012: A month-by-month look at what made the news

Sunday

Dec 30, 2012 at 6:00 AMDec 27, 2013 at 8:35 AM

A run-down of the major highlights of the year that was 2012.

JANUARYThe cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground off the coast of Giglio Island, Italy, killing 30 and injuring 64. Two are still missing and presumed dead. Among the survivors were Marlboro newlyweds Megan Blomgren-Burgess and Shawn Burgess. Capt. Francesco Schettino, dubbed “Captain Coward,” did not go down with his ship; he jumped overboard and swam to safety, leaving passengers behind. He is charged with manslaughter and abandoning ship.

The new year heralded a new beginning for downtown Worcester. Local community leaders, business leaders and other dignitaries were at a “topping off ceremony,” in which a crane hoisted a piece of steel painted red, white and blue to complete the steel frame of the Unum Group's building at CitySquare. Attached to the beam was an evergreen tree for luck and an American flag.

Joe Paterno, the former Penn State football coach whose legacy was tarnished by the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal, dies at age 85 from lung cancer complications. In July, the NCAA vacated 111 of the wins achieved under his leadership, as punishment for the sex abuse scandal, dropping him from the second most winningest coach in the NCAA to 12th. They later tore down the JoePa statue at Penn State as well.

FEBRUARYWith nearly all of its $1.6 million raised over 12 years depleted and no memorial to show for it, the Worcester Firefighters Memorial Fund Inc. asks private donors for $825,000 to build a memorial for the six firefighters killed in the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. fire in 1999. The $1.6 million was spent on consultants, lawyers, public relations and other expenses.

Thirty-eight years after Clara J. Provost of Fitchburg is found dead after a brutal knife attack, Ronald C. Dame, 65, is found guilty of first degree murder. As he is sentenced to life in prison, Mr. Dame maintained his innocence.

Shots ring out in the night in Sanford, Fla., leaving 17-year-old Trayvon Martin dead, George Zimmerman beaten and claiming self-defense, and the country broiled in debates over gun control and racial profiling. People across the country protest the teen's death by wearing hoodies and sales of Skittles candy and Arizona Iced Tea — the items Trayvon purchased just before his death — skyrocket.

State chemist Annie Dookhan is placed on administrative leave after being accused of deliberately mishandling evidence in drug cases at the state drug laboratory in Jamaica Plain. The laboratory was later closed and Ms. Dookhan pleaded not guilty to 27 indictments in December. She is facing an additional 17 counts of obstruction of justice in cases from Eastern Massachusetts counties. Her alleged tainting of drug evidence may affect tens of thousands of cases and cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

MARCH Direct Air is grounded after it files for bankruptcy, abruptly canceling all flights and rendering Worcester Regional Airport a ghost town.

In what has been called the deadliest war crime committed by an American soldier since the 9-11 attacks, Army Sgt. Robert Bales walks away from his camp in Afghanistan in the middle of the night and into two local villages, shooting and stabbing 16 people to death, more than half of them children. He returns to his base wearing a cape. The rampage is allegedly fueled by alcohol, steroids, and post-traumatic stress from serving four combat tours. A military prosecutor is seeking the death penalty.

Alex Scesny of Berlin is found guilty of raping and murdering Theresa K. Stone, 39, of Fitchburg in 1996. He is sentenced to life in prison without parole. While he has been tried and convicted for that murder, Mr. Scesny remains a “person of interest” in the so-called “Main South Woodsman” case in which several prostitutes tied to that area were killed and their bodies found in Marlboro, Hudson, Maine and Rutland, beginning in 1993.

After founding Tower Hill Botanic Garden and serving 28 years as its executive director, John W. Trexler announces he will retire. He plans to spend his time tending to his own garden, and writing a book about the first 25 years of Tower Hill. In December, Kathy Abbott was appointed to replace him.

An esteemed acadamian and leader in a time of fiscal crisis, former Clark University president Mortimer H. Appley dies. Under his leadership from 1974 through 1984, Mr. Appley established the Graduate School of Management, initiated the formation of the College of Professional and Continuing Education, increased undergraduate scholarship aid, and started a capital campaign that led to the construction of the Sackler Sciences Center.

Myles McDonough, the founder of FLEXCon, who once said the key to his success was hiring “people smarter than myself and let them excel,” dies. Mr. McDonough grew the company from two employees in the former Spencer Rescue Squad ambulance garage using equipment from dismantled washing machines, into a 1,200-employee family-owned manufacturing company with worldwide distribution, dedicated to keeping its Spencer headquarters close to its employees.

APRILThe body of Joseph Webster, 19, of Worcester, is found in Providence April 3, three weeks after he disappeared. Mr. Webster, a diabetic who suffered from a mild form of autism, disappeared after meeting Lara Cori, also known as Lara Corey, and James Howze at Motel 6 in Northboro. The pair allegedly stabbed Mr. Webster more than 10 times in the hotel room, taking his body and his Cadillac Seville to Providence. The pair left his body in a storage container in Providence and attempted to sell the Cadillac before fleeing to New York state, where they were later captured.

The Webster Board of Health votes to reduce the minimum age that a child can get a tattoo from 18 to 14. Those who support the lower age limit said it prevents teens from seeking tattoos from unlicensed artists and risking disease.

Tarek Mehanna, a 27-year-old Sudbury pharmacist and former teacher at the Alhuda Academy in Worcester, is found guilty of terrorism charges in federal court. He was sentenced to 17-1/2 years in prison.

The 100th anniversary of the Titanic is marked, and the local people who both died and survived are remembered. Among the survivors were Lillian Asplund, who later moved to Shrewsbury and died in 2006; Caroline C. Endres, who was born in Worcester and later died in Philadelphia. The locals who perished in the sinking were Walter C. Porter, 46, of Worcester; and Percival W. White and his son Richard White, originally of Winchendon.

Sixty-seven people lose their homes when a fire tears through the Lake Williams Condominiums on West Main Street in Marlboro on a Tuesday morning. The fire started in a top storage area of the four-and-a-half-story, 32-unit building. It took Marlboro — and 12 other communities — an entire day to contain the six-alarm blaze. Five people were hurt and many pets died.

A Worcester Superior Court judge finds Darryl and Brenda Rivernider in contempt of a 2005 court order barring them from selling cars in Massachusetts and orders them to pay the state $300,000 within 45 days.

Local music scene mourns the death of James S. “Scott” Ricciuti, a well-known local musician who played with the bands Huck and Pistol Whipped. He died April 5 when his car hit a guardrail on Interstate 290 and it ended up in the wooded median.

MAYFenway Park will never sound the same. Carl Beane, the voice of the Boston Red Sox, suffers a heart attack while driving down Holland Road in Sturbridge, crashing his car near the Hemlock Ridge Golf Course. Mr. Beane, the public announcer at Fenway Park since 2003, had covered the Red Sox for Central and Western Massachusetts radio stations and newspapers. To honor him, the Red Sox play the first home game after his death in silence, with a public announcer.

A 3-month-old baby is found in the middle of Lovell Street, and in the search for the parents, police find one man dead and two women seriously injured — one beaten in the head with a dumbbell and the other stabbed — inside 326 Lovell St. in an alleged home invasion motivated by drugs, money and jewelry. Two men, Noel Inoa of Worcester and Jose Marrero-Rodriguez of Southbridge, are charged with killing Javier Berrios-Maldonado and attacking Yanette Rivera and Samantha Lester, the baby's mother. Barbara Marrero-Rodriguez, the sister of Mr. Marrero-Rodriguez and sister-in-law of Mr. Inoa, is later charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm and misleading a grand jury.

The long-awaited breakthrough of Front Street in Worcester is completed at what is now CitySquare, and Front Street is scheduled to reopen New Year's Eve.

After 38 years, Stasia B. Hovenesian announces she is stepping down as executive director of Music Worcester Inc., rather than retiring, or “stepping away from active life.” A national search for her replacement is started.

JUNETwo weeks before the starting gun is set to go off, the 52nd Annual Longsjo Classic is canceled; low registration is cited. The four-day stage race, which usually draws 700 to 800 bicyclists, only drew 160 registrants. Executive Director Ed Collier resigns.

A suspicious fire destroys two buildings and damages several others at Merrick and Larch streets in Worcester. The fire was reported at 3:45 a.m. and started in a vacant three-family home at 20 Merrick St., then spread to 24 Merrick St. and 16 Merrick St., and also damaged 9 Larch St., 11 Larch St., and other nearby buildings and vehicles.

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's Providence-based video game business, 38 Studios, files for bankruptcy, after defaulting on a $1.1 million payment to Rhode Island's Economic Development Corp. in May.

Jerry Sandusky, former assistant football coach at Penn State, is convicted of sexually abusing 10 boys. He is sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison.

Former Auburn car dealer Darryl G. Rivernider is sentenced to an 18-month prison term in a Florida Department of Corrections facility for violating the terms of his probation in a racketeering case in which he pleaded guilty in 2011.

Zbigniew Waisk, a 57-year-old native of Poland, is killed when a four-alarm fire sweeps through the six-unit apartment building at 10 Cherry St. in Spencer.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency accuses Lance Armstrong of doping and drug trafficking. The seven-time Tour de France champion files a legal challenge in United States District Court. The USADA recommends he be stripped of all of his Tour de France titles and banned from professional cycling for life, which the Union Cycliste Internationale upholds.

JULYLocal wedding videographer Jesse J. Clark of Sturbridge, owner of SureShot Portraits, fails to deliver wedding videos to several local couples. Mr. Clarke has operated several companies under the names Magnolia Wedding Films and InFocus Studios, and has complaints against him in several other states.

James Holmes enters a packed movie theater in Aurora, Colo., on opening night of the latest Batman movie, “The Dark Knight Rises,” dressed in body armor, a helmet and a gas mask and begins a shooting spree. Many moviegoers initially think he is part of the blockbuster's premiere gimmicks. A dozen people are killed and 58 are injured.

The Rev. John E. Brooks, president of the College of the Holy Cross from 1970-1994, dies. Rev. Brooks was remembered as a man of profound faith, intellectual curiosity, a strong commitment to social justice and Jesuit education and his love of Holy Cross. He was also hailed as a visionary who worked to diversify the student body through integration in the 1960s and worked to strengthen the college's finances.

Among the oohs and ahs at the fireworks display were gunshots as Jonathan Kapulka, 33, of Worcester, standing in a crowd of people, is shot to death while watching Worcester's Fourth of July celebration.

Victor Davila is shot to death by a rookie Massachusetts state trooper as he allegedly tried to run him over during a traffic stop. The trooper attempted to stop the gray Honda Accord Mr. Davila was driving after running a check on the license plate number and learning the car was reported stolen in Leicester.

The unthinkable happens in Oxford when Daryl Benway shoots his two children — 7-year-old Abigail and 9-year-old Owen — and then himself. Only Owen survives, and remains hospitalized in Boston with a gunshot wound to the head.

Athletes from around the world gather in Britain for the 2012 Summer Olympics. By the end of the Olympics, Ryan Lochte makes a splash and replaces Michael Phelps as America's favorite swimmer. U.S. gymnast McKayla Moroney's “not impressed” expression on the medal stand goes viral and even has President Obama imitating it at a White House ceremony for the gymnasts.

AUGUST A three-alarm fire at Quaboag Village Apartments in Brookfield kills 76-year-old James M. Hurley and injures his wife, Irene Hurley, and a firefighter. The fire leaves 20 others displaced and also kills several cats.

Two weeks after the movie theater shooting, 40-year-old Wade Michael Page, a member of a white supremacist rock band and former soldier, enters a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., during worship services Aug. 5. He shoots six people to death and injures three others, including a police officer. He is shot by police and later kills himself.

The Great Oak in New Braintree weathered centuries of storms but was no match to an arsonist who set a fire that burned through the middle of the tree. The white oak was deemed the biggest in the state in 1983. More than a decade ago it was measured to have a circumference of 247 inches 4-1/2 feet from the ground, more than 100 feet tall and its canopy spanned more than 100 feet.

The Worcester Tornadoes are caught up in a financial and legal storm that leads to the team being stripped of its membership in the Can-Am League. Among the lawsuits faced by the team is one from Jose Canseco seeking nearly $1 million for breach of contract, defamation, misrepresentation and failure to pay wages. With apologies to Munchkins everywhere, it appears baseball in Worcester is not only merely dead, it's really most sincerely dead. At least for now.

The state announces it will expand commuter rail service by the end of the year. Track upgrades could lead to 20 trains per day between Boston and Worcester, and the hope of a morning and evening express train.

Worcester rolls out the blue carpet for JetBlue Airways CEO David J. Barger, who visits Worcester amid speculation the airline is eyeing service to the city. Local residents and businesses take part in a video campaign to woo JetBlue. A decision on whether the airline will be landing in Worcester is pending.

Jason Masiello of Spencer is charged with murdering his 88-year-old stepfather, Michael Iagallo, in the family's Spencer home. He allegedly slit his stepfather's throat, wrapped his body in plastic and placed it in a crawl space under the house.

SEPTEMBERAs the country marks the 11th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans are killed in an attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, and a nearby CIA annex. It is first reported the violence is sparked by an anti-Muslim film by an American filmmaker. It is later called an organized terror attack.

Suzanne Donovan and her 6-year-old daughter, Fina Impagliazzo, are killed in a fire that destroys their Uxbridge apartment building. The fire was so intense a cause could not be determined. Later in the year, wrongful death lawsuits are filed by their estates against the landlords for lack of working smoke detectors.

A nationwide net was cast, but the best choice to lead the Worcester Center for Crafts was a local resident. Honee Hess of Worcester is named executive director of Worcester Center for Crafts, one of the oldest craft centers in the country. Ms. Hess is the former director of education at the Worcester Art Museum.

The city mourns the death of Paul S. Morgan, a man of strong convictions, with an open mind and a great wit. Mr. Morgan, 88, was part of the fourth generation of the Morgan family, which ran one of Worcester's largest manufacturing companies, Morgan Construction Co. The company made equipment for steel mills and today is part of Siemens AG. Mr. Morgan was a former city councilor and Charter Commission member.

Lanyun Ma and Wei Ma, both of Flushing, N.Y., plead not guilty to one count each of trafficking people for sexual servitude. The two Chinese-born women allegedly ran a therapeutic massage business at 2 Fairlawn Ave., Oxford, and would allegedly shuttle prostitutes from New York to that address to service clients.

OCTOBERWith the Mayan calendar ticking down, you would think the Church of the End Times would be preparing. Instead, the church's pastors, brothers David and Denis Stanley, are charged with violating a restraining order after a standoff with police. Court proceedings revealed the inner workings of a church that involved salacious details about a young harem and the brothers' attempt to create a half-breed race of humans and angels.

Westboro native Elizabeth “Lizzi” Marriott, 19, disappears after one of her classes at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Authorities believe Ms. Marriott, a 2011 graduate of Westboro High School, was strangled or suffocated by 29-year-old Seth Mazzaglia and charge him with second-degree murder. His girlfriend, Kathryn McDonough, is charged in December with conspiracy.

The mercy rule was sidelined in a Pop Warner football game, and soon after two coaches were suspended. During the game, the Sturbridge Pop Warner football team was down by a score of 56-0 in the first quarter and several players were injured. Central Massachusetts Pop Warner suspended Scott S. Lazo and Erik Iller, coaches of Southbridge and Tantasqua Pee Wee division teams, respectively.

Red Bull may have given him wings — and a sponsorship — to break the sound barrier, but the David Clark Co. of Worcester gave Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner the space suit to protect him in his Oct. 9 space jump.

One and done — Red Sox Manager Bobby Valentine is fired after ending the 2012 season with a 69-93 record. John Farrell is hired away from the Toronto Blue Jays to be the new manager.

The Boy Scouts of America release secret “perversion files” containing the names of more than 1,200 Scoutmasters and other volunteers — including about a dozen from Central Massachusetts — who are banned from the organization for alleged sexual abuse of children.

Alyssa A. Haden, 20 is found dead at the apartment she shares with her twin sister, Caitlin West, and her husband, Steven D. West in Spencer. Mr. West is later indicted by a Worcester grand jury for her murder.

Ameridose, based in Westboro, shuts down for inspection after tainted steroids from its sister company, the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, are linked to a meningitis outbreak that kills dozens. Ameridose later announces mass layoffs.Superstorm Sandy batters the East Coast, with the brunt of the storm being born by New York and New Jersey. At least 125 people were killed and the landscapes of many seaside communities have been forever changed.

NOVEMBER President Barack Obama defeats Republican challenger, and former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney and is elected to a second term. Mr. Romney isn't the only Massachusetts Republican to suffer defeat on a national stage: U.S. Sen. Scott Brown loses to Democrat Elizabeth Warren in the most expensive election in Massachusetts history. Ms. Warren is the first woman to be elected U.S. senator in Massachusetts. However, despite having raised $42 million during her campaign, the bankruptcy law specialist and consumer advocate owes more than $400,000 for Election Day expenses such as pizza and coffee for volunteers.

He's been shot, injured in a skydiving accident and has testified before Congress, but nothing kills a career faster than an affair in Washington, D.C. Four-star general-turned CIA Director David H. Petraeus resigns suddenly in scandal after the FBI uncovers evidence of an affair with his biographer and Army reserve officer Paula Broadwell. The affair came to light after Florida socialite Jill Kelly contacted the FBI to report that Ms. Broadwell was threatening her to stay away from Mr. Petraeus. Ms. Broadwell will not be charged with cyberstalking, but is still being investigated for mishandling classified information.

A “man of the people” and dedicated family man, former U.S. Rep. Joseph D. Early dies, at age 79. Mr. Early, father of Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr., served as U.S. representative from 1975-1993. He was remembered as a public servant who fought tirelessly for working people, and helped secure funding for a biotechnology park, a civic center and an airport in Worcester as well as funding for Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.

Former New Hampshire senator Warren B. Rudman, 82, dies. He served as U.S. senator from 1980-1993, and was known for his work in budget, ethics reform and national security issues.

Robert J. O'Keefe, former Worcester city clerk, dies at age 88. Mr. O'Keefe served as city clerk or 45 years, the longest-tenured city clerk since Worcester became a city in 1848.

A 30-inch water main breaks on Chandler Street in Worcester, flooding part of the Worcester State University campus and shutting down water to the entire city. All residents and businesses are under a boil-water order. Public schools were delayed and tanker trucks were brought into to supply water in case of a fire emergency.

Time to head to the Common and lace up the skates. Worcester's long-awaited ice skating rink opens behind City Hall.

Organ transplant pioneer and Nobel Prize winner Dr. Joseph E. Murray dies at age 93. Dr. Murray was a Milford native and graduate of the College of the Holy Cross.

A six-alarm fire destroys the former Columbia Hotel, a downtown Leominster landmark. The building housed many apartments and businesses.

DECEMBER Kirah D. Carrion, 14, tries to jump onto a passing train behind the Greendale Mall, slips and loses part of her leg when she falls beneath the train.

Nicholas Capasso is named the director of the Fitchburg Art Museum. He comes to Fitchburg after serving as deputy director for curatorial affairs at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln. Mr. Capasso takes over from Peter Timms, who held that position for 39 years.

Howard McGinn prepares to celebrate his first First Night Worcester as executive director. Mr. McGinn succeeded Joyce R. Kressler, who oversaw the celebration for 14 years.

Former national arm wrestling champ Allen M. Stilkey of Douglas is sentenced to 4 to 5 years in prison after he is found guilty of manslaughter and threatening to commit a crime. His wife, Lisa, died after she jumped from the second floor of the couple's Gilboa Street home in February to escape her husband, who had threatened to kill her.

Jacob Tyler Roberts kills two people, then himself, in a shooting rampage in the Clackamas Town Center, a mall in a small suburb of Portland, Ore.

Three state utilities are fined nearly $25 million by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities regulators for their response to Tropical Storm Irene and the October snowstorm in 2011.

Enjoy your tax-free holiday purchases from online retailer Amazon.com this year, because it will soon be a thing of the past. Amazon.com reached an agreement with Massachusetts to charge Bay State customers 6.25 percent sales tax beginning in November 2013. It could set a precedent for other online retailers.

The pitter-patter of royal feet will be heard next year as the world's favorite royal couple, Prince William and his wife, Kate, announce they are expecting their first child. And with that announcement comes a flood of questions that require answers — is it a boy? Is it a girl? Is it twins? How many maternity outfits will Kate recycle?

The nation is in mourning after Adam Lanza blasts his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., killing 20 children and six adults before committing suicide. His deadly rampage began at his home, where he shot his mother to death. President Obama addresses the nation, wiping away tears, and there is a renewed call for stricter gun laws and help for the mentally ill. In the 11 days before Christmas, teachers are recalled as heroes, and funerals are held for the town's children.